One Soldier's Motivation

This tutorial is designed to help students understand what a primary source is and why they are used. Primary sources can come in a varitey of formats: from written text, to an audio recording, to an old photograph. Using questions from the SCIM-C method we will be able to analyze and interpret primary sources more deeply. Please view the tutorial on primary sources, and scim-c before moving on to the activity. The activity will present several letters that were written by Lietuenant Joseph J. Hoyle during the Civil War. The guiding question is "What motivated Hoyle to continue fighting in the Civil War?" Students will use the knowledge gained from the tutorial to evaluate Hoyle's primary sources. The primary sources include three letters by Hoyle. Two letters were written in 1862 and one letter in 1863. Then complete the short paper listed on the Acvity page.